"They told me that themselves."
"Cui Peng and Tang Ci?"
"yes."
Su Zhou asked: "How did they tell you?"
"The so-called going too far is not enough, they made me suspicious precisely because they talked too much." Su Shi said lightly: "Cui Peng and Tang Ci may want to make the atmosphere even weirder and more bizarre, so that everyone will believe this. Everything was caused by the ghost of Hui Niang. So when I told about the haunting in the study, I said I saw chairs moving for no reason and books turning over without any wind."
"However, it was these words that made me suspicious." At this point, Su Shi sighed and continued: "Because Du Ziqi checked again afterwards and found no trace of the chair moving at all, and the books on the table were not turned over. signs of passing.”
"And the reason why Du Ziqi made such a judgment is because of the dust, I believe."
Su Zhou nodded.
Since the Red Plum Pavilion was haunted, no one has even been near the Red Plum Pavilion, so how could anyone clean it, so it is not surprising that there is thick dust in the house.
"Since the dust in the study is thicker than my fingernails, whether it's a human or a ghost, whether it's moving tables and chairs or looking through books, it will definitely leave traces."
Su Zhou was immediately enlightened. He couldn't help but said: "But there were no traces left at the scene, so if Cui Peng and Tang Ci were not dazzled, then they must be lying."
Su Shi smiled and said: "I believe that someone who can become a royal spy has good eyesight, not to mention that it is almost impossible for both people to be dazzled."
"So they must be lying."
Although the conclusion was given by Zhou Jin, she knew that without Su Shi, no one would have discovered the flaw in it.
Under Su Shi's analysis, everything became reasonable and more importantly, they were no longer like headless flies flying around without a target.
Now they have at least two directions to pursue, the eunuch maid serving Hui Niang, and the royal spies Cui Peng and Tang Ci.
"What do we do next?"
Zhou Jin asked this, but it didn't mean that she didn't know what to do. When she knew that the eunuch serving Huiniang was suspected of Cui Peng and Tang Ci, she had already thought of three or four tracing plans in her head.
But she still wanted to hear Su Shi's opinion, because Su Shi always had some unexpected ideas.
Su Zhou was also looking forward to it. He also wanted to know what Su Shi's next plan was.
However, Su Shi just waved his hands and said lazily: "These things should be considered by you. Since you have been investigating this case for ten years, I believe that you are far better than me in terms of experience and methods, so you must Do not ask me."
"But you can always give us some advice." Zhou Jin still refused to give up.
At this time, Su Shi put away his lazy expression and said seriously: "I don't have any opinion, but I can give you a piece of advice."
"What announcement?"
Su Shi said slowly: "Don't underestimate the other party. Although you have a clue in your hands now, if the other party finds out, I'm worried that this clue will be broken at any time."
Zhou Jin said calmly: "The other party will never know that we have discovered their flaw."
She was very confident in this, because in the past ten years, in order to trace the cause of the prince's death, she had established a strict organization. The people who could enter the organization were absolutely innocent people and loyal to her.
Su Zhou also had full confidence in Zhou Jin, because the people in this organization were trained by his own soldiers.
His training is strict, cruel and effective, so those who can persevere will be able to complete their tasks loyally and satisfactorily no matter what the circumstances.
Seeing that both Zhou Jin and Su Zhou were full of confidence, Su Shi said nothing more and just nodded slightly.
Now that the matter had been discussed, Zhou Jin's mood became more relaxed. Seeing that it was almost noon, he ordered his servants to prepare a banquet.
Su Shi felt a little hungry in his belly and couldn't help but smile: "Thank you very much. Thank you for spending the money, Princess."
Zhou Jin said: "You don't have to thank me, I want to thank you instead."
Su Shi sighed: "Then you don't need to thank me. Why did my eldest brother insist on getting on this boat?"
"That's not what I'm thanking you for."
Su Shi looked at her strangely, because apart from this incident, he couldn't remember anything else he had helped her with.
"What do you thank me for?"
"Thank you for spending money today. The price of the dishes and drinks just now is not expensive, only 3,600 taels."
Su Shi was stunned for a moment, then jumped up.
He shouted: "Three thousand six hundred taels? Five dishes and a bottle of wine cost three thousand six hundred taels? Why don't you go and grab it?"
Just now, when Zhou Jin ordered the dishes to be prepared, Su Shi was beside him, but there were only five dishes and only one pot of wine.
Zhou Jin looked at him innocently with grape-like eyes and sighed: "Because of our relationship, it's already a 10% discount."
Su Shi was stunned again, and suddenly asked in confusion, "Why did I give you the money?"
Zhou Jin smiled like a flower: "You are a man, do you want me, a little girl, to treat you?"
Su Shi couldn't help but point at Su Zhou: "He is more like a man than me. Why don't you ask him to treat us?"
Zhou Jin sighed: "Because he is very poor, I know that he will never have more than ten taels of silver."
Su Zhou immediately nodded and said, "I only have eight or seven taels of silver on me now, less than ten taels."
Su Shi couldn't help but point to his nose and asked, "Do you think I look like someone who has thousands of taels of silver on him at all times?"
Zhou Jin smiled and said: "It really doesn't look like it."
Su Shi just breathed a sigh of relief when Zhou Jin continued: "Although it doesn't look like it, you do have it on you, and it's more than a few thousand taels."
Su Shi smiled bitterly and said, "Don't I know how much money I have on me? I only have one hundred taels on me now."
Zhou Jin couldn't help but sigh: "Although I also know that the richer a person is, the stingier he will be, but I think Mr. Su is an exception."
Speaking of this, she showed a hint of disappointment: "Who knew that Young Master was just like everyone else."
Seeing that Zhou Jin seemed to have decided that he was very rich, Su Shi stood there and kept touching his nose, unable to smile bitterly for a moment.
After a long time, Su Cai asked cautiously: "If you don't have money to pay after eating here, will you be thrown into the lake?"
"No, I will just report it to the official."
"Can I pay on credit?"
"Small business, no credit allowed."
Su Shi couldn't help but sighed: "How much is the monthly salary for washing dishes here? I want to know how long it will take to wash the dishes after this meal is finished."
Zhou Jin smiled and took out two pieces of thin paper from his sleeves, a silver note worth one hundred thousand taels, and a land deed and handed them to Su Shi.
"Are you rich now?"
Su Shi's eyes almost fell on the banknote. When he heard Zhou Jin's words, he nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes."
"Should we be invited?"
"should."
